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Paxton Smith, a native of Laguna Niguel, California, will be joining the 2022-2023 Appalachian Athletic Conference Champions Milligan University this season.
The California native attended and swam for Aliso Niguel High School, where at the CIF State Championships this past May, he took on the sprint freestyles. In the 50 free, he placed 24th in prelims in a time of 21.15. In the 100 free, he placed 32nd, with a time of 46.69.
Both times were a little off his personal bests that he set a month before at the South Coast League Championships. He took the titles in the 50 free and 100 free in new personal bests of 20.59 and 45.50. Smith led off Aliso Niguel’s bronze medal-winning 200 medley relay with a split of 23.54 and swam another sub-21, leading off the 200 free relay with a 20.90 lead-off. The school finished 3rd in the championships.
In long course, Smith swam for Dolphin Aquatics and kept mainly to the sprint freestyles. He holds a personal best of 24.19 in the 50 and 54.16 in the 100 free, both dating back to June of 2022.
Best Yards Times
- 50 Free – 20.59
- 100 Free – 45.50
- 200 Free – 1:45.52
- 100 Back – 51.80
Under head coach Spencer Scarth, the Milligan Buffaloes are the three-time defending Appalachian Athletic Conference Champions and will look to repeat again this year. Last year, the team scored 1034 points, more than double what runners-up West Virginia Tech scored.
Smith’s arrival would only help increase that margin, as his best times would win three events, two of which were not won by Milligan last year. In the sprint freestyles his 20.59 and 45.50 would displace WV Tech’s Guillermo Usechi Elizari’s 21.08 and 45.88 from the top of the podium. In the 100 back, Smith would have beaten out future teammate R.J. Brumit’s 52.23.
His impact would not just be confined to the conference championship, however. At the NAIA National Championships, Smith’s best times would have qualified him for 7th in the 50 free (6th from prelims was 20.53) and 9th in the 100 free (8th was 45.47). In the relays, his best 50 and 100 free times could help the Milligan Buffaloes move up from their 3rd and 5th place finishes in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Milligan finished 5th out of 22 scoring teams with 337 points.
Joining Smith on campus this season as first-years are Colin Burnette, Nate Halloran, Hudson Trammell, Sergio Tudor, and transfers John Cox and Simon Popelka. The Milligan Buffaloes start their season on September 30th at the King Invitational.
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